Second survey in UIS series to focus on education

By Jason Nevel, Staff Writer

Tuesday

Apr 21, 2015 at 9:04 PMApr 21, 2015 at 9:04 PM

The second in a series of surveys conducted every two years of residents in Sangamon County will focus on education.

The University of Illinois Springfield Center for State Policy & Leadership, the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln and the United Way of Central Illinois have partnered to conduct the 2015 Sangamon County Citizen Survey.

The survey was first conducted in 2013 and is planned every two years for the next eight years.

Ashley Kirzinger, director of the UIS Survey Research Office, said the overall survey was designed to focus on nine areas of quality of life, but each iteration from here on out will also go more in depth on one topic.

Organizers chose education based on findings from the 2013 survey that showed residents believe education plays an important role in improving Sangamon County, she said.

“We’re trying to dissect the 'why' aspect,” Kirzinger said. “Why do Sangamon County residents care, and what about education do they want us to play close attention to?”

The survey combines a traditional telephone poll with a survey of cell-phone users. The final sample will include more than 500 randomly selected county residents and takes about 20 minutes to complete.

Results from the survey will be released June 26 at a Citizens Club of Springfield Policy Breakfast.

Kirzinger said some of the new questions in this survey concern areas such as early childhood programs, current polices in K-12 education, how people paid for college and how big of a priority will parents place on going to college.

In addition, Kirzinger said, she’s looking forward to seeing how people respond to a question about how student loan debt has affected their behavior.

“We’ve never had that kind of information before,” she said.

Jarid Brown, director of communications for the United Way, said the 2013 survey has helped his organization determine where the biggest needs in the community are.

One thing the United Way realized from the initial survey is that non-profits need to focus more on long-term needs of residents rather than short-term fixes, he said.

“We need to do more than meet the immediate needs of people,” Brown said. “The survey helps us determine where our investments need to be made and where we can make the greatest improvements in quality of life for everyone in our community.”

More information is available through the UIS Survey Research Office at cspl.uis.edu/surveyresearchoffice.

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